Pumpkin Pie for One , Day 2

I know , I had it yesterday . It is just SOO good! It's fantastic... Yum!
Today's was a little less crust, a little more filling- just how I like pumpkin pie!

Nutrient Metabolism: Lipids!

Lipids!

We are finally on to lipids! Exam 2 will be on Glycolysis and the full break down of glucose up to the Krebb's Cycle, then we finished electron transport chain tonight and started Lipids!


So..
There are three major types of lipids:
1. Trigylcerides ( fatty acids)
2. Phospholipids
3. Sterols ( cholesterol, )

What the heck is a triglyceride? and What is a Fatty Acid?
Triglycerids are made of a glycerol "backbone" with three fatty acid chains attached to it.
(Glycerol II) ( fatty acid---)
II--------1
II--------2
II--------3

Fatty Acids are long chains of carbon, with hydrogen and oxygen attached to all the carbons.

-Saturated Fat is a long straight chain of carbons with NO double bonds between carbons

so C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C ( all the carbons are fully saturated with hydrogens)

-Unsaturated Fat is a long chain of carbons WITH double bonds between carbons...

so
(Methyl Group)- C-C-C=C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-(Carboxyl)

(attached bookend groups, the double bond prevents saturation of carbons)

The bookends: A carboxyl group on one end, and a methyl group on the other, are helpful in the naming the fatty acid.

So the above example has 11 Carbons, with 1 double bond, on the 3rd carbon from the left (methyl side) or if you count from the right (carboxyl side) the double bond is on the 8th carbon.

So the omega system name would be 11:1 omega-3 ( ring a bell... omega-3 fatty acids)
since you start from the methyl side

The Carboxyl side naming would be 11:1 delta 8
( the 11 carbon chain has 1 double bond on its 8th carbon)

So this gets a little trickier ... What is all the hype on Saturated Fats and Trans Fat?

Well.... unsaturated fats are bent because of the heavy double bonds... so if it has lots of double bonds it bends at each one, creating a compact curly-Q.... This polyunsaturated (many double bonds) is healthier for you because of this structure ( we haven't gotten to this yet..)

Trans Fat
Trans fat is actually an unsaturated fat from a vegetable source, so it has a double bond. So its supposed to be healthy, but good old USDA/conventional food production decides to use hydrogenation to increase shelf life of foods. So the process of hydrogenation un-bends this molecule so that it is in a straight, long chain like saturated fats ( so that it can have a longer shelf life like most saturated fats) . This is BAD news because not only is it recognized by your body as a "saturated fat".. it also causes your LDL the bad) cholesterol levels to increase and your good cholesterol (HDL) to decrease... not good!

Saturated Fats
Includes Palm Oil, Animal and Dairy sources
Like Trans fat, your body does not like this creature because of its structure , it tends to "block arteries" because its long straight chains..

Super Healthy Unsaturated Fats
DHA and EPA are fatty acids from fish oils but can also be found in eggs, flax oil, and seaweed... These are the healthiest unsaturated fats and have benefits including anti-inflamation, heart and brain functioning, and lowering cholesterol levels.

Thats just a wrap up from what I remembered without my notes. I am studying for my test so I will be posting more of my notes on glucose---> glucose-6-phosphate... then glucose-6-phosphate breakdown to pyruvate, then pyruvate breakdown to Acetyl CoA. I will also be posting on lactic acid and fructose breakdown!

single tear...

Dinner: I made a pizza!! I went to Trader Joes for some grocery shopping after class so that I would be stocked for next week! I made whole wheat crust ( refridgerated dough is only $1 at TJ!) and topped it with Brie and Smoked Salmon on one half, Tomato and Turkey Pepperoni and Mozzarella on the other... All sprinkled with Parm/Reggiano.
Yum Yum Yum! I had a quarter with the salmon and a quarter with the pepperoni/tomato.


Lunch:

Organic Gala Apple

Salad: Organic Spring Mix with tomato, onion, Herb Garlic Starkist Tuna, and some Annies Organic Mac n Cheese ... ( I did only a half of one serving but it looks like ALOT more in my picture!)

Body:

Run! It was absolutely GORGEOUS weather I couldn't resist ! 68 degrees, breezy, sunny!
I took the brown dog, Jack, with me on all the hills right around our neighborhood for a quick 20 minute run then we walked another 1 mile or so ( he needed to cool down!)

Strength Training: BBQ and Abs ( not too heavy though) and then Yoga !

Mind:
I have SOOO much work to do next week for classes- Big Nutrient Metabolism Exam Thursday-(glycolysis through the pentose phosphate pathway), Yogurt Presentation Tuesday, Presentation Wendesday on Increasing Childhood Obesity Rates in Northern Plains American Indian Children

I am a good way through my wednesday presentation- I need to finish that tomorrow and practice it over the weekend...

Soul:
I talked with my brother for 52 minutes!!! ( it was his birthday) I love him SOO much and miss him SOO much ( as I do my other brother and my sister too) and I wish he would move closer than 1,000 miles away. Anyhow, we talked about everything from classes, his life, my work, my running, nutrition, fitness, hurricanes, presents, holiday plans...

I haven't seen him in over 2 years ( at my sister's wedding!) We spent this amazing thanksgiving together when I was out of college.... I had just moved and he lived about 30 minutes from me. I drove to his new apartment and we spent hours chatting. We searched all over the city for this one restaurant that he was told was fabulous. We couldn't find it though! We tried going to this one building but it turned out to be apartments! We were walking back to the car when we both spotted the sign for the restaurant! So we finally got there and waited for a table. It was by far the most fantastic meal ever- they had this gigantic thanksgiving buffet, you know the kind with thirty different desserts ?! Five layered tiramisu cake, five layer red velvet, etc etc pumpkin pie galore, salmon, turkey, chicken, steak, all the veggies, four different salads, baked potatoes, potato gratin, sweet potato souffle, the list goes on. It was an amazing display and amazing in taste! The best part, over any food that night, was that I shared it with him. We laughed so much my stomach hurt. I know I will never forget it and wish I had more times like that with all my family, but I was so thankful to have that thanksgiving with family, with him...

Food Discussions, Topic 1

How you STOP eating? ( Stop grazing, Stop that Nibbling)

This question was posted on a couple blogs the past few days * Carrots & Cake and on Kath Eats Real Food )... So my response on Kath's was:


I think this is a great topic for discussion and so helpful to hear other readers comments on! So kudos to Kath for asking suggestions on How to Stop Nibbling? and Tina for How do you Stop eating? ...suggestions that can help "all of us"...

My suggestion aside from what others already posted, DRINK WATER!

Drink a glass of water before eating a meal to prep your digestion system. I find it helps me pick up on my internal cue of "fullness". You can always eat at the next meal!

Then whenever you go to "nibble" .... ask yourself my favorite question

"What am I really hungry for ?"

such a powerful question! in essence: do you NEED whatever it is you nibble on, Why do you WANT it ?

If you need it, eat it! If you REALLY want it, drink a glass of water. Then, have your nibble if you still want it. The refreshing water will probably help more than immediately satisfaction of the Nibble ( which will then have an immediate "let down" so then you want more)

Other questions you could ask yourself:
Did you not enough at your last meal?
You might need to look at your meals vs. snack and up both, or decrease meal and increase nibble size to a "snack"...

Are you nervous about something/avoiding something ?

* This is my problem, sometimes I find myself wanting to reach for nibbles of food to make me "feel" better about whatever it is I am nervous/avoiding/procrastinating...**

Reaching again for another bite is NOT going to help your situation, it will only delay the inevitable and reinforce a behavior that you are not happy with... perpetuation of the cycle!


So these are my thoughts, and I would love more from others other there. I would like to start a "Food Discussions" Section so that I can have a reference as well as others for stuff like this!

Breakfast Pumpkin Pie for One

I watched christmas movies last night and keep seeing Holiday stuff all the time ( the only marketing that every seems to influence me is holiday stuff!) So I had this idea last night of making an individual pumpkin pie for breakfast! But, of course, make it "B_Healthy" style. Isn't it cute!? I thought it tasted absolutely fantastic and worth the amount of work/dishes I had to do (considering I usually don't take much time at all)!

Here is what I did:

"Crust":

What to do:

• 1/2 Cup total of Irish oats ( I mixed flaxseed cereal with it too)
• Put into an oven AND microwave safe dish (I used this corningware dish) with
• 1/2 cup water ( so that the oats are soaked but not floating in water)
• Microwaved for 2 minutes
• Spread out oat crust to the sides of the dish so that its a flat crust like shape
• Put oven-safe dish into (toaster) oven at 375 for about 5 minutes
  

"Filling"

What to do:

• Mix following ngredients into a separate bowl
• 1/4 c organic pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup egg beaters- or I've used carton egg whites
• pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon Brown sugar
• Microwave for 2 minutes till slightly firm
  
  

Put-It All-Together:

• Take out crust dish w/ oven mitt!
  
• Spoon this slightly firm mix into the crust dish


• Put back into oven for another 8 minutes + at 375

Topped with a spoonful of "cream" aka nonfat greek yogurt, sprinkled with cinnamon

YUMMM!
on the side I had blueberries, cranberries, mango- all frozen and heated in the microwave for a few minutes

Calorie Total if you are interested:
220 for the pie, 10-20 for the yogurt glob, about 50 for the fruit..total about 290

Fiber: 8g

Protein: 16g

Fat: 3g (the healthy unsaturated kind from oats)

What a difference from nutrition of pumpkin pie-The only taste difference was really overall sweetness! This was sweet but it wasn't "Dessert" sweet so it was a great breakfast because the soluble/insoluble fiber from oats and flaxseeds, the protein from the egg, the big dose of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals from the veggie and fruit servings ( pumpkin, blueberries, mango, cranberries) makes this an long-lasting healthy breakfast!


Body:
I would like to get in a run before class today but first I would much rather...

Mind:
..Finish my powerpoint for next wednesday's class- so that I can practice it over the weekend with my family

Soul:
Got 9.5 hours of sleep! I know I needed it, so I'm not too concerned with getting in the run or not today because I am still stuffy! ICK!! AND.. I had more trouble with my asthma than usual today. So the problem is mentally, I am like "okay lets go lets go, long easy run, project, pack etc etc" but then my body is like "eh!" (annoyingly)... not "ugggh I can't move" (awful)
Does that make sense? Not sure what to do yet...

Dinner for One

Veggie Plate!

Some extra slices of mozarella on
Mixed frozen veggies with fresh brussel sprouts - salt and peppered
Vegetarian Crumbles.. Morningstar Meal Starters

And..on the way home from Minority Health class, I kept seeing pizza delivery cars. I wanted pizza but I REALLY didnt want to spend the money on ordering one (especially since Jeff is gone tonight and tomorrow on a business trip and the next day we leave for my parents)... Sooo.. I made three Mini "pizzas"...kashi crackers with a thin slice of mozzarella, a slice of turkey pepperoni on each!

I think it was mostly the pepperoni and mozzarella! Hit the spot perfectly for 80% of the cost and calories! ( note nothing other than good pizza can TRULY hit the spot but this was a great solution b/c I didn't really WANT to purchase a pizza)

My new Great Debate

After finally trying/finding Cliff Z-Bars recently for the first time, I emailed the Cliff company about making seasonal holiday flavors of Z-Bars. What I discovered was that Cliff DOES make seasonal Cliff Bars, but have been discussing seasonal Z-Bars. I had also found out the Cliff bars are particularly geared towards the vitamin and mineral requirements of adults, whereas The Z-Bars ( that so many bloggers out there love (inlcuding me)) are specifically made towards the nutrition requirements of children.

After reading Organic, Inc. and Slow Food Nation, I realize that bars like these are just another way that America has placed a demand for better food, available in more convienent places. This is good and bad in my opinion, because these books really discuss the information not an opnion either way, of how small farmers have been driven out by conventional agriculture's processed fast cheap product standards. Small farmers lose out, We lose out on good quality Whole food...

I am wrestling with this because I love the "bar" idea as a snack especially with having classes and training and such a busy schedule. However/Despite that its a processed packaged food albeit a HEALTHY , organic ingredient-rich packaged food... but still it doesn't necessarily support my local economy or sustain local agriculture does it?

Did you know that Kashi is owned by Kelloggs? Yes, its the same idea of "Big Food" coming in an taking over agriculture- sure Kashi products are great, but its the same practices that conventional agriculture does. BIG conglomerates making BOTH conventional, cheap, high fructose corn syrup cereals right along side with whole grain Kashi products. Yes, it makes it more available to the U.S consumer, but you are supporting conventional agri-economy even though you might not know it, you just want to make "right' decisions, eat whats "healthy". Companies like that have and want the best of both worlds.


So after talking with Cliff, although they are a "Big Food" kind of company trying to get "Organics for everyone..." - They are making huge efforts in green practices, sustainability and wholesome products.

And they offered to send me free samples of their cliff seasonal bars!!! ( which I have never had before because they seem so high in calories - which is why I immediately liked the Z-bar- more of a snack size).

Here they are with another great suprise in my mail, The Journal of the American Dietetic Association! Woohooo! They sent "Iced Gingerbread, Spiced Pumpkin Pie, Pear Apple Streudel"
they are made with organic soybeans and about 250 calories, 10g of protein....

Below... is lunch

I had some left over Kashi Pilaf, mixed with some egg beaters ( and some caraway seed and some thyme) and a nice organic spring mix salad with a little tomato, low fat mozzarella, drizzled in red wine vineagar with some chickpeas too. I HAD to have a bite of the Iced Gingerbread Cliff Bar!
DELICIOUS! Thanks Jordan!!

Pear vs. Bananas, The Final Showdown

"IMPOSTER!" cries Banana, "How dare you try to pass yourself off as banana?"
"I admire you so much for your high potassium content, when you get to 9 inches long you have 4 g of fiber and you get to have 2 mgs of sodium, I don't have any!!" Plus you have your super cool cousin, Plaintatin...and I just have a million gazillion brothers and sisters!"

"Awww, its okay Pear, you are deliciously sweet and juicy. You are a good source of fiber and potassium too! I love you Pear"

"I love you Banana"

Hooray...

( but secretly, I mean cmon, if you have to imposter banana, it totally won! Plus it goes well with so many things oatmeal, toast and pb, banana pudding, banana's foster, stuffed into french toast, mixed in yogurt, blended into a smoothie.. I <3 bananas).

In the middles is a Kashi Strawberry Flax waffle, with Strawberry Chobani on top, on the side is a tsp of opb! *you down wiht opb, yah you know me, you down w/ opb, every last lady...***


( and if you have no idea what this is all about, check out my post from Monday "Pears vs. Bananas" the way I put them into the bowl made it look like the pears were hovering over the bananas, which were curled up onto the sides of the bowl like they were running away. I know how silly I am!)

Tuesday

Lunch:

The leftover tuna from yesterday mixed with Annies Organic Mac n Cheese (1/2 serving) mixed with some heated up veggies ( broccoli, peas, asparagus). I made the Annies Mac n Cheese Sauce with 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt and the last of our nonfat sour cream ( 2 T ish)

Almond Joy Fun Size and An Apple!

Dinner:
("down low"... "how low can you go" )

Steak with loads of veggies (onions, mushrooms, bell p

epper blend, broccoli) with salad (Earthbound Organic Spring Mix) and mushrooms and tomato and some of me leftover Annies from lunch


"Up High Now yall...take it back one time... two hops two times" ( its from a song that popped into my head when I took the pictures)


Anywhooo....Yes, I am a big leftover person! I hate wasting food and don't mind the redundancy ever so often- I think I eat enough variety overall so I'm not worried about it. To be completely honest though, I usually make enough so that there will be leftovers so Jeff can take it to work for lunch ( save some $$$). i.e he doesn't like tuna or kashi pilaf or having yogurt or pumpkin oats for lunch and I do so we make it work!

Oh my... such a big election and I have to voice my opinion because I can, because this is my blog, and I really don't like EITHER candidate! Gasp!

I strongly feel that Obama has absolutely no clue how to make these so called "changes" that he is all about saying he will do- he has no experience and has yet to discuss any specifics on HOW he is going to change ( other than saying hes going to give 95% of people a tax cut) ! Biden I believe is a great choice and has experience. At the same time, Mccain does have a history agreeing with Bush (who I never voted for) but Palin I believe can make strong gains with the areas of Special Needs Education/Families ( a cause close to my heart). The biggest dissapointment with these two candidates was that BOTH their campaigns were AWFUL in negativity and pitting against each other to make "Americans" believe they are a better choice. Neither candidate gave me a sense of what they will actually do to make change happen- they just said that their opponent couldnt.


Anyhow, those are my feelings and I certainly would be happy with someone other than Bush in the hot seat for the next 4 years!

Pears vs. Bananas Day 2

That banana was not being bullied today by the pear-
Bananas win the battle for today ....
Pears 1 , Bananas 1
Final Showdown Tomorrow

Pumpkin Filling Oatmeal Underneath:
1/2 cup irish rolled oats mixed with 1/2 cup water

1/3 cup organic pumpkin

1/3 cup egg whites

Mixed everything well, added pumpkin pie spice, microwaved for about 2 mintues+

Added banana slices and Pear slices on top .. Peanut butter again is a wonderful peacemaker!

Body:
Gym for Cross Training! *update* Bike 9 miles in 20 minutes and Elliptical for 25 minutes

Mind:
Presentation 2 pm... *update* WENT AWESOME!!! Does anyone know how to upload powerpoint presentations to blog? I will totally put it on here!

Soul:
Vote! Election Day! One presentation will be over with by the end of the day! 1 day closer to the marathon.... im getting more and more nervous....

*update* I have WAY more than I need for my yogurt presentation ( other people presented theirs after our book presentation)... Super happy that I can cut down on mine!

Also, I talked with the little boy's mom that wanted me to work privately every morning for her doing therapy and told her basically the truth. At first it seemed like it would work but after all this trouble with the agency and stress over fittin everything in, it just is not going to work every morning. So I am going to email some previous co-workers to see if they might like the position. I feel much more relieved!

Monday..Late Night!

Update: Body:
Yoga 28 minutes+ went very well as did the Walk with "JACK brown-dog" 25 minutes and I swept and mopped the floors!

Lunch Monday:
Tuna ( lemon pepper starkist- 1/2 package)
Kashi Original Pilaf ( 1/2 instant 90 second pack)
Some pickes, mustard, yogurt

and... the last of the banana from breakfast, and a snickers almond fun size!


Dinner Monday:
We went out to eat at Baja Burrito ( does anyone else have these by them? it's not Baja Fresh...)
I had the Baja Salad ( romaine, spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, carrots, black beans, and added Mole chicken ! Yum! Thats is greek feta dressing which i had about 1/2 of.

Rock Show!!

body.mind.soul

Body:

Nose still stuffy and running-hard time breathing, using my inhaler more than normal.
Good news: I don't feel like death- so its Yoga time!
If that goes well- it will be Walk time with Jack ( who is snoring really loud by the way- Does anyone else's dog snore like its owner?)


Mind:

Presentation edited, revised, added to final product, transition slides added as well...
Presentation 2, slides in their outline format, references posted, history slides need edited
On to minority health presentation , draft due wednesday
Read articles for tonights class, Print Articles for Wednesday class
Rehearse presentation for Tuesday

Soul:

Guest Room is ready for D-Hurt
Laundry is put away
DBT show is tonight!!This is the third show we have all gone to together, woohoo for good music and good friends

Pears vs. Bananas

Breakfast:

Irish rolled oats, with a spoonful of organic pumpkin mixed it, added cinnamon, brown sugar pinch and.. pear slices and banana slices.

I love how the Pear slices are staring down the banana slices like "Whatch you think you doin in my bowl of Oats, Bananas ? Don't you know pears go better with pumpkin oats???" ..banana slice's curl up onto the side of the bowl....
I didn't want them to fight so in comes a spoonful of peanut butter to mediate...

Everyone is peacefully in my stomach now...

Sunday Funday..I wish I could runday

Dinner:
Chicken Breast (cage-free organic from Trader Joes)
Frozen, thawed broccoli
Dressed in Archer Farms General Tso's sauce ( dissapointed- its much sweeter than other general Tso's sauces I've had...
Annie's Bunnies in a Box ( the sauce was made with a 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt and the packet plus some nonfat sour cream)
Lunch:
Plate O Veggies
Some Cabot Cottage Cheese with melted blueberries and fresh cranberries, the rest of the banana, some Kashi Crackers and pb

Breakfast:
Pumpkin Filling Oats
-1/4 cup o. pumpkin
-1/2 cup cage free egg whites
-1/3 cup Irish Style Quick Rolled Oats
-1/2 banana
- pb up on the top left
-pumpkin pie spice




hmmmm bananas sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice... Yummmm

Body:
Rested rested rested! I am not feeling well at all... I just hope tomorrow or tuesday is not worse!

Marathon is sunday and I head to my parents friday. This is what I am hoping is my trainig schedule for the week

I will do some yoga and take Jack for a nice long walk Tomorrow (if feeling better) , maybe even some strength training but definately knee rehab exercises...

then cross training ( bike/elliptical/strength) tuesday and wednesday...

easy pace run thursday ( less than 5 miles just to get my legs going)...

rest friday...

yoga saturday...

Marathon Sunday !


Mind:
Spent the whole day at my computer working on 2 of my 3 upcoming presentations and I read the article for my nutrient metabolism research paper

Soul:
Grabbed some halloween candy on sale at Target ! wooohooo for day-after sales
Cooked dinner with Jeff
Finished more laundry ( D Hurt is coming in tomorrow afternoon)

Hope everyone had a fantastic halloween weekend and I love the month of November!!
Oh and if anyone has not ever checked this site out : www.couponsuzy.com
you totally should! You can pick tons of coupons out with a good deal of savings ( I saved $1.50 off a 4 pack of Tava, $2 off Airborne just to name a few)

Saturday Tailgating

But first... a couple Halloween photosThese are some of the "hockey guys" Jeff has been friends with for such a long time. They decided to all dress up as the Village People- It was HISTERICAL! We had cars passing us and singing Y...M..C...AMy gay indian and I... I dressed up as Wilma Flinstone and yes, I really died my hair with a semi-permenant hair dye to make it red ( didn't turn out super red though). Jeff's sister (aka K-C Mo) was Betty. I have to get her pictures of us!

Onto Saturday, we had tickets to go an NHL hockey game. Jeff's dad plays in a Over 50 men's hockey leauge and his league got to play after the NHL game on the same ice! It was such a fun time! So I started out my day with a blueberry chobani filled with some Kashi cereal, and an apple and half a banana with pb.

At the tailgate, I had chips and bean dip ( this guy times 5) And there is a spread of our dip, and K-C Mo's chili (yum!)
I had a little taste in a dixie cup...

The tailgate also had peppers and onions for brats, and some chicken thighs. I had half of a chicken thigh but was really dissapointed because after taking off the skin I realized the bottom half was all bone- so I ate the equivalent of probably 1/8 of a serving of chicken.. bummer
So then inside we watched the game and of course it was cold so I grabbed a cup of coffee...

Then we watched Jeff's Dad play- the old man!

They gave out free pretzels since the NHL game was finished- so KC Mo and I split one with some (gross) honey mustard ( I actually threw away the hm after trying the bottom of this piece!)
Jeff's dad's team won! Horray!
When we got home finally at 8:30 pm, I was suprisingly not very hungry. Grazing always does that to me, I feel like I never got "enough" food but I am also not "hungry" because I had been eating all day long ( or so it seemed). I know logically I needed more protein and vegetables so I threw together a small veggie-full "omlet" with some kashi whole grain crackers.

Hello November AND one extra hour of the day!!!

Body: Rested but lots of walking around the tailgate and stadium! ( and got 10 hours of sleep!!)

Mind: After we got home I looked up some information for my presentation tuesday and read over my other group members' slides.

Soul: It was fun to play corn-hole outside and take in a professional hockey game AND watch Jeff's dad play in a professional arena. Unfortunately, my sniffles just got worse and worse as the weekend has progressed so.... Ick!!!

I am drinking lots of water, I have been resting and not working out, what else can cure me ?